Other nature: Moose Hill photo exhibit all about perspective

Like an alchemist, Fernando "Fred" Martins merges natural and man-made objects to create singular photographs that jar and mystify viewers' eyes and imaginations.

Chris Bergeron

Like an alchemist, Fernando "Fred" Martins merges natural and man-made objects to create singular photographs that jar and mystify viewers' eyes and imaginations.

Part naturalist, part Dadaist provocateur, the Winchendon artist with Framingham roots is exhibiting 17 striking color images in a one-man show at Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary in Sharon through Sept. 28.

Moving beyond traditional nature photography, Martins has juxtaposed feathers, antlers and other natural things with objects found at flea markets or scavenged from bottle dumps to startling effect.

"I combine natural and artificial objects that seem to fit together naturally to make a third object," he said.

In "Over Protected," strands of barbed wire encircle a speckled egg in a rusty embrace. A stuffed spotted oriole appears to nest in a rusted frame of unknown use. A tuft of feathers seems to sprout from a 1930s toy figure of a street sweeper called Tidy Tim.

Titled "Lasting Impressions," the exhibit was organized by Jan Nareski Goba, who serves as gallery curator and director of community relations of the sanctuary owned and managed by Mass. Audubon.

She said Martins' recent work might be described as "eco-art" that incorporates an interest in protecting the environment, promoting spirituality and social activism.

"I'm always looking for different ways to present exciting art," said the Walpole resident. "In these works, I think Fred has created nature-based art from a unique and hopefully thought-provoking perspective."

She said Martins found many of the natural objects, like feathers, bones or stuffed birds, in Moose Hill or its archives.

Nareski Goba compared Martins' photos to the combined physical and aesthetic experience of visiting the 2,000-acre sanctuary in which hikers can climb the wooded slopes and enjoy a panoramic view from the summit or see great art in the gallery. "Come in for a hike and then look at art. Or look at art and then go out for a hike," she said. "It's all one."

At their best, Martins' images nudge viewers into considering real and imagined connections between organic and man-made realms.

Viewing his photos is a bit like finding a robin's egg or tree fungus on a nature walk and - as if really seeing them for the first time - being dazzled by their organic perfection.

At the same time, Martins' enigmatic titles - like "Bare Bones," "Nesting Instinct" and "Mushroom Gravy" - invite viewers to consider how language affects our perceptions of nature.

Not bad for a guy who only took up photography five years ago.

The vice president and creative director of Sharon advertising, public relations and Internet marketing agency Tiziani Whitmyre Inc., Martins began visiting the sanctuary in 2003 during lunch breaks to relax.

A former art student who'd mostly devoted himself to drawing, he began taking pictures of the site's natural wonders during lunchtime walks.

Now a volunteer at the sanctuary, Martins has provided gorgeous photographs for four successive calendars produced by Moose Hill. The page for each month features a photo he took during that month the year before.

Over the same period of time Martins has earned numerous awards for his photographs. He was awarded Best of Show for a photo he submitted to the Newburyport Art Association's juried fall show. Another photo, "Fall Light," was selected for the Danforth Museum of Art's 2007 New England Photographers Biennial Exhibition.

Viewed for the first time, Martins' images seem deceptively simple. But back up and look again, and a profound totemic effect appears as in prehistoric cave paintings or sacred objects fashioned by so-called primitive people from everyday things.

And sometimes they're just funny.

In "With Mushroom," living mushrooms are growing from an old Dinty Moore beef stew can. Resembling a shaman's mask, "Trophy" consists of deer antlers set atop the broken chassis of a toy car. Resting atop a jeweler's anvil, a speckled egg seems about to crack open, releasing a new hatchling.

Martins hopes his new photos remedy what he calls the troubling trend of "too many artists who separate their art from the audience."

So during his frequent hikes, he gathers "found" objects from old scissors and seashells to old bolts and pine cones.

Raised in Framingham and Natick, Martins is the nephew is the late Arthur Martins who served as police chief in Framingham.

Martins, whose father died when he was a child, credited his mother, Mary Alice Queiros, a former Natick art teacher, for encouraging his early interest in art.

While many consider art incompatible with commerce, Martins said the photos he takes with a Nikon D200 camera share key qualities with art used in his company's advertisements.

"I want to engage the viewer in a conversation with my work and ask, 'What is it? Why is it there?"' he said. "To me, that's what I'm trying to achieve."

THE ESSENTIALS

Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary, 293 Moose Hill St., Sharon, is run by the Mass Audubon Society and includes 25 miles of hiking trails.

The gallery and nature center are open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There is no charge to visit the gallery and nature center. The parking lot and trails are open from dawn to dusk. To walk the trails, nonmember admission is $4 for adults and $3 for children 3 to 12 and seniors. Mass Audubon members are free.

For information, call 781-784-5691 or visit www.massaudubon.org.

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